I believe the reason will become clear as you continue. However, I feel compelled to warn you, this is not a post that will either be fully complimentary or one that simply throws rocks through windows. As Perry Timms so eloquently stated in a post he recently wrote, “Stones thrown rarely comfort anyone.” That includes this writer as I put on paper what I am thinking.

However, I’ve reached a point where my silence and frustration is not doing me any good. While I value relationships beyond all else, I write this knowing that some relationships I have may be irrevocably damaged depending on the priorities of those reading it. That may be a price to be paid and that realization is ever present and acknowledged.

Since starting my journey in human resources back around the turn of the century, I’ve been a member of the Society for Human Resource Management or SHRM. This is an organization that I credit for giving me both professional and personal satisfaction over many years. In fact, it’s not a stretch or an exaggeration to say that the majority of my friends have come because of my involvement with SHRM on either a local, state, or national level. Some of these friends date back to some of my earliest days being part of the organization while others are new as of last year’s annual conference in Chicago.  As a past recipient of a SHRM Foundation scholarship, I credit them with providing the kick I needed to start grad school and obtain my MBA.

An active volunteer on many levels, I certainly admit guilt to “drinking the Kool-Aid” and encouraging people to join and get involved. These volunteer opportunities have opened doors to me that I never would have imagined possible. It’s even conceivable that my volunteer roles have brought me farther along professionally than have some of my paid roles over the years. On the professional development side, I was one of the first to get my SHRM-SCP certification and openly steered others toward it. As a member of the SHRM Foundation’s Leadership Circle, I’ve made an on-going commitment to give back to an organization that provided so much to me.

And, yes, I freely admit to owning more than one item of SHRM clothing (including socks)!

So, having said that, why is this so hard. Because, I’ve stepped away from this organization I credit for providing me so much. It’s a matter of feeling like the organization no longer can credibly represent me and my feelings while opening embracing narcissism in leadership and seemingly ignoring or looking away from the ethics that have guided it for so long.

As of last August 31^st, I have been a lapsed member. Despite dozens of messages laced with numerous incentives (a tote bag, hot chocolate, a free month of membership, etc. ) asking me to renew, I have not. This hurts to my core but not as much as my renewal would hurt and conflict with my own sense of right and wrong. While there is no “one thing” that was a final straw or trigger point, there have been a series of events that prompted me to internally reflect and reach this hard decision. Listening to people I know and care about express their concerns and having the benefit of knowing people who have been affected by changes in the organization makes one pause to see if I’m part of the problem or part of the solution. Sadly, this is still a piece I cannot answer with certainty. However, being part of the organization was not helping and my voice inside SHRM, despite being valued by some, is only one voice in a much larger chorus.

To be clear, while actions are being taken which are, in my view, not aligned with the integrity of the organization, there must also be the realization that not everything an organization does is going to be agreeable to its members.  A few examples where I believe the integrity is lacking include:

• The current leader’s alignment with the Trump administration.
• Some elements of reorganization that were (reportedly) not handled in a manner that a good HR person would handle it.
• The blacklisting of a longtime member because they dared to question the current leadership of the organization.

Each of these points deserves some explanation. First, while I expect SHRM and any business oriented organization to have a politically rightward lean, the cozying up to an administration that is so blatant in its disregard to groups of people based on who they are removes the ability for the organization to legitimately state that it can stand up for elements in its own code of ethics. These include, but are not limited to:

• Respect the uniqueness and intrinsic worth of every individual.
• Treat people with dignity, respect and compassion to foster a trusting work environment free of harassment, intimidation, and unlawful discrimination.
• Assure an environment of inclusiveness and a commitment to diversity in the organizations we serve.

Before you think I am thoughtless political extremist with only progressive views, I am not. In 2016, I voted in the Republican primary here in Michigan and am more comfortable talking to my Republican Congressional Representative, Fred Upton, than I am to either of our state’s two Democratic Senators.

The second point is one that is only conjecture and based on indirect information received and my own observations as an experienced human resource professional. I am a firm believer that a leader has the need to have their own people advising and guiding them. However, how you treat existing people when a change is made provides great insight into the character of the leader. While departures, both voluntary and involuntary do generally rise with the change at the top of an organization, the manner in which they are handled are important. Again, relationships matter and I always want to see people treated with dignity and respect. When you tout yourself as the world’s leading authority on HR, you damn well better have HR practices that match that mantra.

The third point is admittedly a point of personal hurt.  Yes, I am that member. While I do understand membership has its privileges, being ostracized in a manner that makes it appear that leadership in an organization is making personal attacks is, to me, an unmistakable sign that being challenged is threatening and that voices of dissent have no role. Professional responsibility requires us to adhere to the highest standards of ethical and professional behavior.

It’s this final point that has sealed it for me and prompted me to publish. Until substantive changes occur with the leadership of SHRM, I cannot in good conscience be part of the organization. As stated in the beginning, this hurts me to my core. I have grown as a professional because of SHRM. I am a better person because of SHRM. My life is a richer one because of SHRM.  Sadly, this growth, betterment, and richness is no longer worth the price. I will certainly miss some opportunities but at the end of the day, it is my own sense of dedication that will shift unless SHRM chooses to make some changes of its own.

I consider myself fortunate that I have a strong network of talented HR professionals that I can access as needed and that knowledge sharing among my colleagues is something that can happen without SHRM resources being available. No matter what organization I am involved with, I will always strive to share knowledge, provide support, and help advance the profession I love. Thank you friends, you are the best! It is all of you who deserve a letter devoted to love and dedication!

It’s said that Salvador Dali found inspiration for his famous painting The Persistence of Memory by seeing melting Camembert cheese melting after sitting in the sun in 1931.  One of my favorite songs, Yesterday by Paul McCartney, had original lyrics that were inspired by scrambled eggs. Of course, Chicago also had the hit You’re the Inspiration (a middle school dance staple during my awkward teen years)!

I find inspiration in many places and a various times. For me, music is a constant inspiration and method to decompress after a week at work. However, I also find myself getting inspiration from beautiful scenes I see (yes, nature is important) and even the interactions I have with people in my organization.

The topic of inspiration spilled over during a conversation I had last week about intrinsic motivation and finding the individual things that make us all tick. As an experiment, I asked a few people I work with a question.

What inspires you?

This has proven to be a powerful question and it is not one that those I have asked it to have been asked before. It’s brought some great stories to the forefront and even prompted one of those I asked to share how she was inspired to become a teacher. That connection is something I will treasure knowing.

So, this week my challenge for you is simple. Ask someone what inspires him or her and cherish learning something new about someone. Who knows, you may find a new inspiration from an answer you hear.

When you were a child, what did you want to do and did it have any impact on what you ultimately became?

Starting early on, like many boys I had the fascination with being a firefighter (even riding on my rocking horse with my plastic fire hat on!) but soon found myself considering other things. For a while, in middle school, aeronautical engineering had some appeal. That ended as my math grades saw a decline during 8^th grade.

Entering high school, there was a wide open world ahead. Ultimately, my thoughts for post high school study became focused on biology (specifically marine biology) and that was my chosen field of study as an undergraduate. As I commonly say today, I have my undergraduate degrees in biology and environmental studies and haven’t used them a lick! I might be one of those that some pundits point to about judging the true value of a college degree. That is a post for another time.

Although I am now in the field of human resources (and have my MBA) I still love life science related things and find that there are often lessons from the biological world that can be applied to the art of HR and business.  A few include:

1. While there is great complexity in our world, some of the best things in both life and business are truly simple in their composition.
2. Relationships matter and can be symbiotic, antagonistic, or somewhere in between.
3. There are rules for everything, except when there are exceptions.
4. What we do not know often exceeds that which we do know.
5. Beauty takes many forms. Consider that both the warthog and a multi-sheet Excel document with pivot tables each have admirers.
6. Life cycles exist for living beings as well as organizations.

One of the papers I had to write during my MBA studies was focused on organizational structures. While many of my fellow students focused on mechanical aspects of hierarchy and control, my approach was different. Organizations are very much like life forms in how their systems operate and function. I would make the argument that we get better results when treating organizations less like machines, and more like living organisms.

That is the impact my early fascination has had on me!

Who is someone who greatly influenced you in your early career?

As I think back to my first “real job” after college, it takes me back to Cincinnati and my time working as a theme park consultant with International Theme Park Service (ITPS). When I was hired in September of 1995, I was fresh out of college with work experience that consisted of being at a theme park (Kings Island) mostly working with people my own age and behaving as one would expect young twenty somethings to do!

Enter Mrs. Jackie Renner!

Jackie was the VP of Administration for International Theme Park Services. I credit her for teaching me what being a professional looked like. I learned much from Jackie including the right way to communicate with people from around the world and other cultures, how to be complete in my preparation for client presentations, and how to be a loyal employee to my organization.

As my tenure at the organization increased, I found myself working more closely with Jackie on new business development. Her ability to judge people and know them quickly was something I admired.  When I did not understand the reason behind a process we followed, she was able to explain the why behind it and how the process made the business better. This is a lesson that I’ve never forgotten; always be able to explain your actions and how they can impact your business.

It’s really been over the last few years that the lessons I learned from Jackie have become even more important. My opportunities to interact with and show the next generation what professionalism means have increased. Each time I am complimented on how I handled something professionally or ensured some detail was taken care of, I think of Jackie and say a silent ‘thank you’ to her.

Now, I can say it aloud; thank you Jackie for showing me what being a professional should look like. It is something for which I am very grateful!

My intent is not to answer any of life’s big questions (like who will win a battle between Batman and Superman) but to trigger some exploration and reflection. My plan is to post the question for all to see on Monday and provide my own response to it the following day. Even if this doesn’t trigger public discussion or disclosure, I hope that anyone reading this will think to themselves about how they might answer the question.

Look for the series to begin next week. Until then, stay warm and safe my friends!

It’s time to do some thinking and reflecting.

While I love and miss Bloomington and so many people in it, there is no doubt that our decision to move was the best decision for our family. We have been very fortunate to land in a community (Portage/Kalamazoo) that is vibrant, found schools where our children can thrive, and remain close enough to see family and friends on a regular basis.

Our home requires us to embrace winter!

In this age of instant communication, remaining connected to my larger network is still amazingly easy. I’ve come to realize that people who some would only regard as HR colleagues or associates are truly my friends and a constant source of support. While that network has not grown in a local way as much as I wish, being able to reach out to friends in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Virginia, California, and many other states gives me stability that others may not have.

Yet, there is still a feeling that there is more to be had by moving forward. It’s the pull of the unknown and the desire to add to my own life experience. My relentlessly positive outlook, while challenged at times, still tells me that moving forward is not only inevitable, but the best way to go.

Of course, there are limits to what can be done by any one person at any one time and part of progress involves letting go of the old in order to grasp the new. This recent trip to my old home, more so than others I’ve taken, has inspired me to examine what must go so that I can move ahead to the amazing things that await in the months and years ahead.

Several concrete steps are in process now. First, my home office, which I allowed to become a room to collect junk, has been rehabbed and is again a functional space. This post is being written while I enjoy being surrounded by the things that have molded me in my professional career.

Second, on a more personal note, is the execution of the kitchen remodel my wife and I have talked about since we moved to Michigan some two and a half years ago. Our cabinets are on order and a large check was written to get the process going.  We are both excited about this and look forward to modernizing the one area of our house that needs it desperately.

There will certainly be more change and growth to come and I look forward to the future and the promise it brings!

The stage at #SHRM15

Hank Jackson, the CEO of SHRM, echoed this theme yesterday. He hit upon a few points during his extended opening remarks as the conference officially kicked off.

Citing the newly released edition of Harvard Business Review, Hank talked about the necessity of HR to lead their organizations and step into roles that define to other executives what is important for the organization’s people. One of the articles in the magazine by Peter Capelli says that “the HR team can show these executives what they should care about and why.” Often, HR pros can conquer the what, but struggle with the why. This must change!

There are many in HR who would prefer to say “it’s the law” or “that is company policy” rather than provide rationale for the reason decisions are made. To me, it’s important to be able to speak to the reason behind a decision – the why of the decision. This concept is captured by Simon Sinek in his book Start with Why. Capelli cites something similar in the article when he says “knowledge of practices is essential, but it’s more important to understand what works when and where.” While this may remind some of you of your elementary school writing lessons (are you answering the W questions?) this practice is still essential in today’s workplace. Workers of today, no matter their generation, are not predisposed to simply follow orders because someone says so. Frankly, if the why can’t be explained, perhaps the decision needs to be reexamined.

Go beyond the what and cover the why. After that, ensure the when and where are correct too. This will bring the ability to thrive to not only to the organization, but to you as well.

Are you ready for a challenge?

One important element is that to define the picture of a puzzle it takes not just many pieces, but all the right pieces. When the journey begins, there has to be faith that the right pieces to make the picture desired are present or can be found.  There are times we don’t know the direction we are going, but there must be faith that in the end, the pieces we need will be available to us.

Since the placement matters in a puzzle, the pieces alone do not tell us the whole story. Are you one who believes that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts? Stacked on top of one another, puzzle pieces may make an impressive tower, but that isn’t the proper placement. The pieces must come together in just the right way to make the picture complete.

The trait of perseverance is one being tested by the current puzzle projects in our house.  A complete picture takes work and it is not necessarily easy to achieve the end goal. Even when we know what the end looks like, it still takes work to reach the goal and things may not always go the way we expect or want them to go.  Always push forward.

Finally, we need to remember that even when we believe the puzzle is done, there remains work to be done. We can choose to tackle a new puzzle, or deconstruct what we’ve assembled to begin again.  It’s important to continuously move forward so that we do not become complacent or think that we have everything figured out. If that happens, that’s when bad things can occur.

So remember to find the right pieces, place them in the right place, don’t give up when things get difficult, and do not be satisfied when the picture is clear if you want to keep growing and improving.

My role as HR Director found me entering into negotiations with labor unions for the first time. All five unions reached agreements (some more easily than others!) and one of the five groups even decertified as the year progressed.  The beginnings of a departmental restructure are now underway and I look forward to continuing some of the good work in hiring the best and brightest to be part of our organization.

My outside professional interest also had a few highlights.  Although I purposefully reduced my speaking engagements and conference involvement, it did not stop completely. I had the honor of being part of SHRM’s social media team during the annual conference in Orlando. My involvement in HR Indiana continued (and I am thankful they still accept this Michigander!) and I added the additional role of being a presenter at this year’s conference. One valuable lesson I learned was not to try that again as I did not feel that I brought my best game to either effort. This year, HR Indiana will firmly stay on the planning side. We have lots of great people who can present!

On top of Mt. Baldy at Philmont!

The BIG thing for the year was in my personal life. Spending 2 weeks in the New Mexico mountains hiking at the Philmont Scout Reservation was certainly an adventure. It was difficult at times and certainly challenged this creature of luxury living, but I did it and look back on the time as precious. Even though I will likely not try such an adventure again, the preparation (including running several 5k’s) and time with my son will do my soul good for years to come.

With that, it’s farewell to 2014 as we see what 2015 brings. While I hope for more time with my esteemed friends and colleagues, I also look forward to the unknown that beckons all of us to journey forward one day at a time!

My current organization tends to be quite formal in their approach to systems, people, and communication. This formality was quite a change for me from my previous workplace and my own informal approach has caught some people off guard. Previous HR leaders in the organization rarely left the administration building, interacted minimally, and relied on the hammer of power to get their way. Needless to say, this is not my way and rather than bend to the formality, I am out of my office, talking to people, and building bonds that go well beyond the formal structure that is in place.

When I requested permission to send an organizational wide e-mail, it was met with a bit of uncertainty. Rarely did anyone do this in the past. I tend to be very open in information sharing (oooh, it’s confidential…) and assume that people want to do the right thing. This is a powerful combination that requires faith in others and ultimately faith in yourself that you are embarking on the right path.

This is the minion who lives in my office! It’s part of who I am.

Here’s the thing though, it works! Even in a formal organization, by connecting with people on a personal level the formality may exist but it gets tempered and allows the work to happen on a level that formal structure and policy can’t dictate. Yes, one may have positional authority, but that shouldn’t mean that is the only way you can get work accomplished.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, find a process that typically requires formality and break it down so that a new, more informal and personal approach can be used. Run with it and get to know people and connect with them on a personal level. It doesn’t hurt and will bring a new sense of enjoyment and engagement to you and your work. After all, life is too short to be miserable!